Ginny is a certified Christian Life and Health coach specializing in coaching women (and some men!) to freedom from emotional eating and then on to creating a healthy and fulfilling life. Ginny is passionate about getting the message of “loving God, pursuing excellence” in every area of life, including living a high-raw, Biblically based diet. Ginny will be sharing her own journey to freedom from emotional eating, and how she discovered a new passion for life, God, and His creation in the process.

Her projects, Overcoming Emotional Eating – A Biblical Approach, 120 Days to Freedom, and the soon to be released Royal Divas, serve a community of people inspired to live at their very best for God’s Glory and for the people they love.

Health Summit Speakers

Doug Polk, AlphaOmegaFood.comTopic: Naturopathic Medicine and Winning the Battle for the Body

Monday, November 16, 2009

Dennis ClarkbeganRaw Food Rehab at the very beginning of our original 11 Week Experiment this past June the 1st. When Dennis joined RFR, he first weighed in at 485 pounds and today, less than 6 months later, he weighs 395 pounds. So far, Dennis has been our "biggest loser," and is a beloved member of our RFR family.

Dennis is not genetically obese, as a matter of fact, he used to be quite an athlete in high school, lettering in a few sports. He served in the United States military for a few years, maintaining a buff, athletic build. His family of origin are all average sized people. So, when Dennis signed up as one of our original research guinea pigs, I was fascinated to learn his story. Just two years ago Dennis was topping the scales at nearly 550 pounds.....To hear his full story listen as I read from Chapter 8 of the Raw Food Cleanse on YouTube.

Dennis' journey has not been one of perfection or of absolute formula, but it has been one of persistence and positive attitude. Dennis is not a whiner and he's not a victim. He has taken the call to action and realizes there is only one person who can make a difference in what is put into his cake hole.....and that's him.

Read what Dennis has to say about his experience in the first 11 Weeks: “I started the Raw Food Cleanse Experiment on June 1st 2009. I weighed in at 485lbs and I was extremely unhappy (even if I didn’t admit it). After just two 2 weeks on the program, I had lost 24lbs, and man, were my eyes suddenly wide open to a whole new world! For the next 9 weeks I continued to lose weight at an average rate of 4lbs a week. I even did a 3 days juice cleanse, which totally cleaned out my system and gave me tons of energy. When I made salads I would use anywhere from 13-20 different ingredients, the more the better! My world opened up to chia seeds and young coconut water – and now I’m currently about to start growing my own wheatgrass. When I started this experiment, I had realized that I was actually killing myself with the amount and kinds of foods I was eating, but in just a short amount of time on raw, I came to understand that I could live an amazing, full life, without depriving myself…talk about gaining some mental clarity! I now have hope that life can be better than it ever was before. For the first time I truly believe that I can and will have an active, healthy, vibrant life. I’ve also made friends that have really helped me along this journey, REAL friends that I will keep for life. On August 6th I dedicated my life to living a raw food lifestyle from here on out. There’s no going back now! After everything that has happened to me over the past 11 weeks, I want to do anything in my power to help promote the raw food lifestyle, community and to support all my raw food friends.”

In the first 11 weeks Dennis lost 64 pounds while gaining his life back. At this time, Dennis continues to steadily work towards his ultimate weight loss goal (having dropped another 18 lbs. in the last 4 weeks) and he stays busy promoting the life transforming power of the raw food diet here at RFR and beyond. You can follow Dennis’ progress by friending him at Raw Food Rehab, reading his blog, Real Men Eat Raw, and watching his videos on YouTube.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Now that we have the dreaded Halloween candy nearly behind us, it's a great time to think about real ways to create joyful deliciousness to our meals and celebratory occasions over the next two months. I've always loved the holidays, my cherished family recipes and all the festivities that are involved during this time of the year. However, since becoming a raw food enthusiast several years ago, I have also had challenges during these times of the year. Each year I found myself feeling conflicted, displaced, compromised and even sad during my most favorite time of the year. Dealing with these emotions certainly wasn't doing anything to promote better overall

health, so I made a decision to start moving in a new direction this year.

Instead of allowing dread, worry or guilt to work against me this year, I'm working to create ways to embrace the season, along with it's traditions AND it's foods. Recently I've been actively involved in recreating recipes and coming up with new ways to prepare foods that will satisfy, nourish and heal, along with maintaining a serious festiveness factor. As you read in my last post, Raw Food Rehab and I have just released an eBook called Raw For The Holidays, which is chocked full of great holiday and celebratory recipes to assist you in surviving and thriving during this time of the year. I'm so proud of the book, but it doesn't stop there.

I have also rolled out a new site, Raw For The Holidays, where I will be sharing ideas, recipes and holiday survival tips to help others, along with myself, make this the best November and December EVER! So many people dread the potential weight gain of the holidays and they feel weak and dis-empowered when they arrive to work to find the office loaded down with sweet treats that are so hard to resist. There is no time like the present to start getting prepared for success. It is fully within reason to become the example of what is possible, being the influencer, NOT the one who is being influenced with less than healthy dietary options at this time of the year.

The information contained in this blog is for education only and is not meant to help diagnose, prescribe, or treat illness. It is valuable to seek the advice of an alternative health care professional before making any changes to your existing diet.